It’s been a while since we posted a status update, so here is the last one of 2015! Turner and I have been working on a story for about a month until we realised we weren’t committed to it. It just wasnt grabbing our attention. We stormed for a while until one of our recently posted short stories sparked an idea. With a newfound excitment we eagerly started planning a new novel to work on. This was good for us for a couple of reasons, but the most important one is that we’ve figured out which genre we are truly passionate about writing.

In addition to this awesome development, we’ve also created a New Years resolution for ourselves. By the end of next year our goal is to have one of our novels published! This is both daunting and frightening, because though we are confident in our work, publishing is a whole new monster to grapple with. We decided this goal was worth it though if we are to ever further our craft.

In the coming months we will begin streaminglining the book we want to focus on publishing as well as sharing pieces of our new writing endeavour with you lovely people. We trule appreciate the love and support we receive here and we can’t wait to move into 2016 with you!

For this installment, let’s get to know Stef’s step-brother Lazlo from “Betrayal Comes First.” He’s a charmer, I assure you.

We almost make it to my room without incident. Almost.

“Did I hear someone talking about me?”

“Go away Lazlo.”

Lazlo glides out of his room and sidles up beside me, close enough to make me uncomfortable. Closer than a step brother should get. He plays with a lock of my hair. I swat his hand away and glare up at him.

Cyn steps between Lazlo and I, creating a barrier. “Don’t you have something better to do? Like, I don’t know, burn ants with a magnifying glass? That sounds like something you would do.” Lazlo snorts in reply.

Unfortunately, Lazlo is the baggage our family inherited when my father made the mistake of marrying Maria just over a year ago. She had him when she was sixteen, and he’s been spoiled since day one. He’s an egocentric, grade-A jerk, who has no moral boundaries. His slick black hair and dark eyes give him all the allure of a great white.

He side-steps Cyn, reaching around her, placing his hands on my waist. I quickly maneuver myself out of his grasp. “Just leave me alone.”

He raises his hands in mock surrender. “Why so uptight? Can’t a brother show his sister some love?” His voice is razors coated in syrup, sweet, with danger lurking beneath.

When you read your work aloud, the pro is definitely that it sounds like it’s so much longer than it actually is. It gives you a gist of how much work you actually put into it. The con, unfortunately is, though you get to ferret out all your grammatical and flow errors, you can’t understand what other people’s take on things is. You only know the characters and story in one way. The only way to understand if your characters are real or relatable is to take a leap and let others read your work. Scary, but necessary.

We are realizing just how strange it is to hear your writing read aloud. During our editing period, we take turns reading scenes aloud and are finding just how neat it is for your characters to sound like real people.

Finally we are beginning brain storming for our book cover as well, and making some head way toward the preferred image. Things are finally starting to come together. The feeling of the culmination of so many elements coming together is almost overwhelming.